A Booke of Stuffe

Self-Promotion Without Self-Absorption, and Fun With Etymology

We far too readily adopt the mien of an orphan bootblack knocking at the service entrance, cap in hand to apologise for taking up anyone’s time before asking if possibly someone might need their shoes shined. Hell, I did it just last week.

This is ridiculous.

A short article on why talking about what you do doesn't have to mean you're a pistolfingers douchebag.

Also...

As a by-product of researching the book I’m coming across the etymology for a lot of common words and turns of phrase. I’d heard that a lot of popular/gangsta language is actually medieval English, and I am coming across a lot of it ("dog", "bitch" and "banging" to name three.) But there’s also a few interesting things about stuff we take for granted. So there's a second post on the surprising origin of some words, as well as a small update on where I've been and what I've been doing. Short story: burning out. Long story: a series for children, looking after friends and getting around my agent wanting to see film treatments with a view to shopping them around Hollywood.

"Bull" and "Bear" markets get their names from medieval English as well. "Bear" is a reference to a person selling what they do not have, like a huntsman in a certain fable who sells the skin of a bear before he’s killed it. The Bull in the market sense was – as far as I can tell – just an opposite title given to the Bear’s counterpart: one who buys stock from the Bear on speculation

The story I have been told, which does not necessarily contradict that, is that a bear pulls down its prey while a bull flicks its prey in the air.